Chapter 49

“Where’d your Ice Queen go buddy?” JJ’s voice cut through the crowd, drawing Henry’s attention as he wandered slowly towards the Greater Rift. A massive throng of people had formed in the area, most of them just gamers there to take part in a ‘special event’ Greater Rift. They had no idea the danger they were in if something happened. They had no idea what Henry knew.

“Away,” he said as he reached JJ. His carefree best friend was just hanging out it seemed, though occasionally Henry saw D.E.D. coming through the portal get blasted apart by some unseen force and he knew it was JJ’s doing. The Demon Hunter had pacted with something that had a wind attack. He knew that much. What it was JJ had pacted with, and how strong it was, was a completely different matter. As were whatever D.E.D. the Demon Hunter had at his disposal.

“Damn, I was going to try and actually get her number this time around.” He muttered. “Though, if they called her away, at least it means they’re taking this thing seriously.”

“You know about it?” Henry asked. From his understanding, normal players had just been notified this was a ‘special event’ greater rift. Details on the actual creature, had not been disclosed.

“Hmph,” JJ looked around cautiously, and signaled for Henry to follow him. They walked towards a corner of the mall, moving, Henry realized, out of sight of any of the actual Exorcists who were hard at work fighting off the incoming D.E.D. Given the size of the Greater Rift forming, and the obviously increased amount of energy roiling around in the air, the D.E.D. coming through the portal, at the lowest level, were level 20. And they still had 40 minutes till the arrival of the Varkoth.

“Varkoth.” JJ said, suddenly serious. He pulled out a leather-bound journal and flipped through the pages quickly. Henry couldn’t make out the contents on them, but noticed they seemed to shimmer with a strange light, as if the contents hadn’t been recorded with mere ink.

“Classified as a Tier 3 Demon, Varkoth is an ascended form of an Ice Drake.” He stopped flipping through to show Henry what appeared to be a very detailed drawing of a ferocious, ice blue draconic creature. Its wings appeared to be made completely of ice, and massive icicles seemed to hang all over its body. Its eyes were a blinding white, and Henry couldn’t help but notice the obvious slash across its face, showing a massive scar.

“Two years ago Varkoth attempted to come through a Greater Rift. Not the first time either. He’s made multiple attempts over the decades.” JJ continued. “The Demon Hunters have fought him off a few times, but whenever he is in an area of heavy Exorcist population, we obviously stay clear.” He chuckled darkly. “Honestly, if they’d stop trying to kill us and steal our D.E.D., we’d have been able to put Varkoth down in the past. Hell, my father told me stories of how he and a team of 9 other Demon Hunters held off Varkoth over a decade ago. And yet, two years ago, the Exorcists lost nearly a dozen members fighting him off. Amateurs.”

“So, what you’re saying is, this is an extremely powerful enemy, and also that Demon Hunters are stronger than exorcists?” Even given the severity of the situation, he couldn’t help but add in that last part in a joking manner. This was JJ after all. They’d been friends forever.

“Dude,” JJ cracked a grin, “you have no idea. Demon Hunters are awesome. If we weren’t, the Exorcists would have been able to wipe us out centuries ago.” He sighed. “But our power is why they hunt us down. Because they want it for themselves. Greedy, murdering bastards.”

“Right.” They’d derailed. “So, what do we do about Varkoth here? How bad is it going to get out here?”

JJ glanced from him, to his three D.E.D. “Honestly? You’re going to want to run and hide the moment Varkoth’s essence tendrils start making their way into our world. A physical hit from one of those would, by itself, be strong enough to one hit your D.E.D. But the biggest threat is the frozen essence mist that comes through with the tendrils. Without a fire D.E.D., any and all D.E.D. in the area, and I mean any, will be greatly weakened.”

“He has an AOE effect?” The Larpen just had those essence tentacles, which were rather easy to fight around when you got used their patterns. As long as they didn’t make contact, even Henry’s low level D.E.D. had been fine.

“Yup. And I’m going to guess most of the powerful fire related D.E.D. are with the Away Team, in order to prep for good ol Fenrir to go toe to toe with Varkoth again.”

JJ seemed to be quite informed on the exorcists’ actions. Something Henry made a mental note to ask about later on.

“Which means…”

“Which means, the smart Exorcists are going to be launching long range attacks at the tentacles and hope the icy mist doesn’t reach them. Newbs, and fools, are going to lose a lot of their D.E.D. today, purely as cannon fodder.”

“Can you do anything?” Henry asked in a low whisper. “You’re probably the strongest guy around, aren’t you?”

“I could, but it would get me hunted down in an instant.” JJ said. “Besides, I’ve no reason to keep exorcists safe. I’m here to farm some easy essence with the D.E.D. coming through right now. When the actual fighting happens, I’ll be hanging back. Can’t blow my cover, and I’m sure as hell not about to give the exorcists any ideas about my D.E.D.”

Henry sighed. As much as he wanted to hate JJ for that, he couldn’t. JJ’s dad had been killed by exorcists, and considering what Jewel had said about JJ, the only reason he was still alive, was because they didn’t think he was all that impressive. Meaning his best friend was actually doing a decent job of keeping his secrets safe. Even if he was, according to Jewel, drunkenly flirting with her and sharing his identity.

That being said, maybe there was something Henry could do to help? JJ had mentioned the importance of a fire D.E.D. Would his Chimera be appropriate? Then again, Henry hadn’t tried to summon it since that first night. So even if he did summon it now, the chance of it listening to him was practically nonexistent. Not only that…it was only level 25. This was a Tier 3 demon. Would a level 25 even make a difference?

“I have a stupid idea I want to run by you.” Henry started. He may ben an exorcist, and JJ may be a Demon Hunter, but JJ was still his best friend, and he trusted him above anyone else.

“Your ideas usually are.” JJ chuckled. “But I’m listening.”